"So, will you do it?"
Her voice was calm, almost sweet.
I sat frozen on the velvet chair, hands clenched in my lap. Across from me, Queen Hayana lounged like a predator at rest, her honey-dark hair spilling over silk and gold. The woman who birthed me. The woman who never once claimed me.
Her words struck harder than any blade.
I wanted to scream. To weep. To demand why I had been brought back only to be used. But all I managed was a whisper, trembling and raw.
"I'm sorry. I can't."
Hayana's smile faltered. Beside her, King Malton leaned forward, his pewter eyes grew cold. "You have no choice."
The walls of Draherne seemed to close in, bright with banners yet heavy with chains. I had been a fool to believe their love was real.
ns216.73.216.121da2
and then Add to home screen.